Subjects

Notes

General Note:

The Southern Caving Society was formed in April 1965 and in July 1967 commenced publication of "Southern Caver" as its quarterly newsletter. At the time of the 1996 amalgamation of SCS with the Tasmanian Caverneering Club, it was agreed that Southern Tasmanian Caverneers would continue to publish "Southern Caver" in the form of an occasional paper as and when suitable material was available. The publication has in fact appeared approximately annually in recent years and has generally carried reprints of otherwise difficult to obtain reports relating to caves in Tasmania.

Restriction:

Open Access - Permission by Publisher

Original Version:

Vol. 5, no. 4 (1974)

General Note:

See Extended description for more information.

Record Information

Source Institution:

University of South Florida Library

Holding Location:

University of South Florida

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All applicable rights reserved by the source institution and holding location.

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Description
The Southern Caving Society was formed in April 1965 and
in July 1967 commenced publication of "Southern Caver" as its
quarterly newsletter. At the time of the 1996 amalgamation of
SCS with the Tasmanian Caverneering Club, it was agreed that
Southern Tasmanian Caverneers would continue to publish
"Southern Caver" in the form of an occasional paper as and
when suitable material was available. The publication has in
fact appeared approximately annually in recent years and has
generally carried reprints of otherwise difficult to obtain
reports relating to caves in Tasmania.

Edi tors' NO'~e: Leigh Gleeson recently spent a month on a caving holiday in .. New Ze a land .. "ror the benefit of less fortunate' readers we pre vailed on him "to provide the following impressions of his visit: .. .. N'2W 7.EAL!-\.~m OWES MID CA VERS BY LEIGH GLEESON New Zealand is in many respects a spele.ologist's paradise in .. that it offers a, whole range of oavjng activities in about nine widely distributed karst ~reas. These nine areas vary in their extent, topographic setting, climatic regions and the nature of their caves. By far the most frequently visited area and closest to the hearts of all New Zealand, .iave r s is Waitomo in the West-Central region of the Uorth Island. This area is very sil)lilar to our l~ole Creek in that it is essential) j 0. horizontal Cave type locality, with around 3QQ known cave s most of which are very wet, set in hilly rural landscape almost identical to thut at' Cavesid~ .Â•. Lots of .g_~.o.ct quality formation caves~J~~. wi.thin wrilking distance" .... 01' the "b.vo cave r s chubs in the areas. It is here that N'ew Zealand'.B '-lhost'-prfze'd forma.tion cave St. Benadictines is to be found (not quite a:! good as Kubla' and their longest. cave Gardeners' Gtit" (7 ..... miles). Sport_ .cave a-of'
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re~ions are well exposed Qt elevations around 5000'-6000 f and dominated by predomino.tzyvertical ,,,-,,"co.J-;8IDS. Mt. Owen for example has dozens of vertical entrance shQfts vQrying in depth from 30',310' in clean very hard marble (good for tying off .pitches) a welcome change to the grotty Gordon limestone of Tasmania. ~, Typically these shaftsl:;)I.ock off a couple of hundred feet down, but occo.sionally one goes to a respectable depth and thus we have caves such as Curtis Gill and Blackbird Hole, along the style of Kha zn.d .. DiU'IJ. Harwoods Hole (U.Z. deepest cave appr ox 12f.o' deep) w~th 'its sporty 600' entrance pitch is at Takaka Hill. Quite independent of its entrance Hanvood's is a spectacular mile long through cave packed with flowstone, waterfall cascades, pools and assorted formation. Ed's Cellar (850 f ) is another first cla.ss vertical cave Most of it can be free climbed except for a couple of short p~tches ~ its close proximity (100 yds.) to the compsite makes it even more favourod. On the We st coast or' the South Island in the vicinity' of Punakaki is another extensive caving area. This thic~ly vegetated, high rainfall coasto.l region holds mostly horizontal systems, many of which are of considerable length and ddmens Ions The area is most often visi~e~ 9 the Chris~sh~ch c~vers and like most New Zellland caving areas requires at least a weekend trip. Most of thoir kllrst a.reas :1re not as relldily accessible to the new Zealand ca.vers as say Junee/Florentine or Hastings are to Tasmanian Qavers. Fjj_ordland (SN South Islan
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!CELL 18 POT BYROn MANl'T Kellys Pot is an inflow cave situated in the second valley West of Harberts Pot and is the highest known cave in the Mole Creek system. The entrance is a narrow cleft just to the left of where the stream sinks under a. small face. The na.rrow passage is typical old streamway and slopes down steeply to the 17 foot pitch. The belay point is a convenient column of limestone in the right hand wall. The stream reappears at the foot of the pitch as a waterfall coming from high up on the wall Â• The wny on is hard to the left through a small squeeze to a 15-20 foot climb down a rock face and back parallel to the .~ squeeze to come out directly bel~N the foot of the ladder pitch. The stream f'Lows under the tOl us blocks that comprise the floor of the next section of '''",ve~ The easiest path over the te,jlus h d01rn~~tu. oelltra of the chamber and then to the left side until ~ larte sand bank is reached; \ At this point the cave narrows down to a stream porsage about 3 feet high which requires crawling for some distance. Further down, 0. small stream enters from the left side of the cave and at this point it is possible to stand and walk to the next crawl. The stream disappears to the right along the next section leaving a dry passage 3-4 feet high and about 8 feet wide. T~iF oa~sage slopes up at a 4Q degree angle ~fter some distance and this point is where the survey ended. The siphon which is just past this point is in a low chamber with about 9 'inches of water on a sandy bottom. Where the creek runs into the siphon pool there is an Â•Â• 80 which can be free climbei to a s~~ll passage with some brown formation. There are several side passages, one of which leads back towards the entrance and has a lo.rge circular aven at the end which was obvi.ous'ly 0. 'stream bed at some' time. The rock on the walls of the passage is very dry and crumbly. The cave could still yield further discoveries and the siphon could bea.r closer investigation as Herberts Pot Can not be very far away. Par~ies should bear in mind that most of the cave is low stream passage and subject to flooding if trere is heavy rain before or after the party goes underground. SOUTHER~J CAVER (4 ) 1\pril,::,1974

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THE TROWUTTA AREA by Kevin Kiernan The Trovrutta area is situated in the north-west of Tasmania 24 km south of the town of Smithton. The nearest other karst areas are at Mont.agu a linear distance of 32 km to the north west, Re.lpa 36 km Vi.N.W. and Gunns Plains, 92 km E.S.E. The main features are located roughly south-east of the village of 'I'z-owut+a Â• "I'he area experiences a cool t.empe ratr climate, an annual rainfall of around 150 cms. with an annual variation of about 1a;b. Temperatures of 1Li.-150C are average' for January and 6_S o c for July, extremes beins _6C and 35 0 C. Frosts occur between April and December. (Langford1965). Structurally, the area lies on the north-western coastal platforms (Davies, 1965) and is essentially flat to gently un dulating land less than 200 'm above sea level. The area is underlain by unmetamorphosed Cambrian and Pre-Cambrian sediments upon rrh.i.ch yellow podzolic soils are developed. 'l'rowutta is drained northwards by the Duck River. 'l'he outcropping rock i Smithton Dolomite (upper PreCambrian). It consists of pale grey dolimite and blue-grey chert v:rith sheared minor bands of oolitic limestone, car-bonaceous silstone and black and. 'white chert. The formation is 1200 ,ft. thick bU'L relief is not considerable. (Longman and Mathews 1961). 'Circular Head has the elargest known dolomite deposits in the, Commonwead.bh" though this distinction perhaps justly belongs to the Camoowea.L area of Northern Queensland~ The principal known feature of the area is the 'I'rowutta Arch, which is situated in a 225 acre Cr-own Lands Rese.irve (Goede 1967). 'I'hd,s reserve lies at the present border of the cleared pastoral ~~d to the north and virgin rainforests of the Arthur River valley.. Some encroachment appears to be occurring and logs have been dumped into the northern doline of the Arch complex. Southwards alonG the Arthur River forestry activities are resulting in an extensive network of roads in the most likely area for the rediscovery of the 'I'hylacine, T~smanian r~ge~~ (ThYlec~~s cynocephalus),-footprints bf~which However, none of the examined literature pertaining to the dolomites of the north west deals specifically 'I'd th the Trowutta Arch area arid the cavernous rock at Montagu has been recently established as being a limestone (Kiernan 1973). The rock is dense, dark coloured and I1ell jointed, while literature on the dolomite deals only with a quite light co'Lcu.redu'ock It.may be a moderately thick bed of limestone within the dolomite. SOUTHER1\T GAVER ,. January, 1974

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were positively identified ,at Brookes Ck ill March 1973 (Malley 1973). }Further disruption of the habitat of this animal will probably result from the commencement of tin' dredginG activities along the bed of the Arthur River, in t'he near future. The Arch itself consists of a compound collapse doline system with two of the three main dolines linked through a spectacular natural arch. 1'wo of the dolines are cenotes but talus obscures the water in one of these. Adjacent to the central collapse' is a smaller and less obvious arch leading down into the central lake, a body of water of unknown but consider able depth, which in times of very severe drought is_ reputed to sive access to a short len~th of cave passage. It may be an interestino prospect for cave diving. There has been little expl..H'ation of the' extensive "lime stone" areas of the north-west of which this locality forms part. Goede (1967) records that' at that time the area had been visited only once, v;ith numerous dolines and a 8 m deep pothole dis covered. In 1968 interest was sparked by an ~pplication for a Special Prospectors Licence and an SCS party visited Trowutta Arch Â•. E:x:ploration did not proceed far beyond that area. The Arch rra s subsequently revisited by TCC and later another SCS party in late 1972 again inspired by a mining applicati~n. The latter party undertook some exp'Lcrat Lon of passages leading off fr .. m benea'bh: the Arch, to be halted after only a short distance by a vertical drop of at least 10 m A sketch (If the doline complex was made (see figure). SOUTHERN CAVER ( 6 ) :~anu~ry, 1974 The general NY! area. certainly deserves further exploration though much of it has been cleared for pasture with no dramatic discoveries forthcoming but some small holes are to be seen in road cuttings. In the rain forests south of 'rrovrutta' there is. ample scope for exp.Lorat Lon as at Rapid River. 12 kms to the south where caves have been reported: (S. Harris, pers com ,') in what may be a continuation of this rock outcrop Â•..

The second point raised in the article is a typical wishy-washy generalisation that I would expect from one who would dare hide under the banner' of ethics to pe.:rlletrate his own personal b La s against SRT. A close examination of SCS and TCC trip reports will demonstrate that although much good surveying and exploration work has been done since the introduction of SRT, it could h~rdly be considered as devastating upon the potential caving possibilities of the State. The principle of exploration with thoughtand appreciatinn is good but there exists no need to fabricate derogatory re~~rks on single rope exponents to make this legitimate point, We would expect this type of thing from politicia.ns, not cavers. Sit '1' BY LEIGH GLEESOn A recent o.rticle in the Southern Caver entitled "The ethico.l basis of SRT" attempted to throw doubt on the ethics of the single rope technique ~nd those who utilize it. It pleased me no end t.ha t the sub-ject of ethics wn s mentioned. The article makes two points, firstly th!lt SRT speeds up trips thereby making them easier and less enjoyable and secondly that "the SRT fanatics only concern is to get more work done" thereby "depriving the next bloke of his sport" Â• I would contend that both of these points are invalid. The article reveCtls a basic misunderstanding of the nature of SRT. It is true th~t recent SRT teams have been bottoming Khaza Dum, Cauldron, Tassie Pot and so on in shor-tertimes than those of the original ladder days. I would suggest that it is the smaller teams and consequently less delay that account for this rather than the supposed "high speed single rope" nonsense. Single rope technique is not particularly fast or simple, as those who have not done any significant amount of rope work, suggest. ltore care, precision and understanding of the nature of a pitch is required in rigging a rope than 0. l!ldder. This does not imply that one is better than the other, on the contr~ry both have their applications and to suggest that one method should not be utilized by introducing the "ethical basis" red hemr Ing is as ridiculous as saying that boots make caving trips easier thereby speeding up exploration. Indeed if that be the logic of the article then I expect the author to carry on caving in the future in nothing but his underpants (if those). There exists no;method more simple for negotiating a 200' pitch than a single kernmantle rope 0. piece of metal with knobs on the side, and an ascending device whose principle is less complicCtted than your average home-vo do dinky to:'. Though the application of such a method requires substantial concentration which is ~ften difficult under cold wet stress conditions. The article suggested that the long enduring trips are those which lead to that inner satisfaction, (possibly from being shrouded in a general aura of bull-dust.' ,0 This is quite right but I suggest that it is the qu~lity of the trip, rather than the length of it from which most "pleasure" is derived, although the two are of'ten, synQnomous. ) l SDUTHERN CAVER (8 April ... 1974

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 1974 ... This advertisement appeared in the Ho bart "Mercury" 17th April, 1974: "The Annual General Meeting of the Southern Caving Society. will be held at Bpm on 1:Jednesday, 1st May, 1974, at the Society's Clubroom, 132 Davey Street, Hobart." SCS members will know that our President for the past two years, John r1cCormack, has been transferred to Launces ton and will not be contesting thi.s poai.t Lon at the AGM. The field is wide open and it wi).). have to be a good man to fill John's shoes. Four nominations for the position of president have been received. They are, Lon Mru~n, Kevin Kiernan, Michael Cole and Steve Harris and no~one but the most rash-forecaster would attempt to predict the ~utcome. An interesting speCUlation is whether the enigmatic Bob Cockerill will contest the position. Although previously refusing nomination, Bob cannot be discounted as a possible st~ter. He has proven hi8 ability in the position and could command enough votes to ~e given an excellent chance of success. The contenders for the position of Secretary are, to our knowledge, Steve Harris, a former vice-president, Mieke Vermeulen, and Delia Cole. IT Ron Mann is riot succe ssf'ul, in his bid for the presidency and desires to remain as Tr~asurer, he will be a hard man to dislodge; his sterling past performance in this positlon must make him almost a surety for the job. The present Editors of "Soufhern Caver" ,'" Aleks Terauds and Dave EI,liott and magazine committee member Ron ~Iann are willing to continue to, attempt to produce the sort of ma.gazine the Society wants, but do want further support from o ther imembers I"Iike Cole. and Kevin Kiernan have indicated their willingness to take their p~aces on the magazine committee. The AGM this year"as in' previous years, will give the Society's members the opportunity to select' officers to minister to the Society's needs as they arise. The Executive Committee must be led by a strong president who can control meetings and project the Society's image well to "outside" people. It should hav~, either in the president or vice-president, a good PR man, in the treasurer a cOtlpetent handler of the Society's finances and in the secretary a person who can translate the Society's wishes onto paper in a way that if it does not bring credit, it at least does not disgrace the Society's name or standing. D .JJ .sn i ott A. I'er-auds SOUTHERN CAVER (9) APRIL 1974

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CAVING IN THE SOLONON ISLANDS Steve Vince Can you imagine working up a sweat caving Ln sYTimming trunks and aandshoea? I suppose .Lt is alittle .bard to believe but I assure you it is true. . . Â• 1. Â• The two years tha~"I resi:cied 'iri the Solomon Islands, were spent ml:Lihly 'on the beaches that litter the coast of the Island of Guadal Canal. You can probably understand that ~his paat ime becomes -a little bor-ing in a coUntrY where summer; lasts for twelve months, of the year. So on one or' two weekendsI' returned ,to: one" or mY.' fo:6ner 110 bbies caving.. .. : Caves do not exist in any large number near the coast and no-one know.s how many there are inla.n,d as the_jun~l~ c,loses in$'ter the first half mile or sov However there was one' cav~ almost in'my backyard and is found at the place where the Matanikon Riv~r comes to the surface. This river runs thto~gh Horu.ara, the' cap i, tal of the' Solomons. It can be seen that no great preparations were required before a trip.to., the cave could"be organised,. .A pleasant ten minute drive from the 'Mess where I'lived, through the Curspean trading area'of the town, up the Matanikon the.banks of which are lined with the shops of China Town at this point. Finally the road ends at a Melanesi!an Village Â•. oj '; From this point the only way' to move inland is to wade and swim up the river as the jungle closes' iri' and overhangs the. banks' in most places. In a number of '!pla.ces on this trip it was necessary to 'swim against a strong burrent .: 'so several :iirbeds were carried to be used at these points. This part of the trip takes about two hours but the cool water was pleasant in the near 100 degree temperature. ,. I I .-, Â• ~ p Â• ,_ Â• Â• ." ,'\ The cave was finany 'reachJd ~Â£'ter negotiating a particularly long narrow.' gorge which '~was about five .hundr-ed feef long. . The -c Li.f'f'a on both sides,'. rise steeply out of the:,;;at~!.' to an average 4eight 'of 100 feet. . ,'" .,' '.' .... ' The cave entrance is twenty fee,t wide. and thirty feet high, the river completely' fills th'e: opening and is. about f'Lve feet deep. As the current was not very str6hg:the'airbeds wer~ -sed to explore the iriterior; inside I the cave was si.IDilar in:': ci:LlIlen~ions:. tp, \r/e.t Caves but with one. difference, the walls ariQ_ 'roof w~re. almost comp.Letaly covered with, a very'. smooth flow stone formation whf.cbext ended .down into, and well below the surf'ace of ,:the 'waber .' SOUTHERN CAVER (10) APRILJ974

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About 100 yards in Irom the entrance a waterfall enters through a hole in the roof and the light from the entrance, combined with the light from the waterfall itself makes this a beautiIul sight. The explorable part of the cave does not extend Iar beyond the waterfall as the roof comes down to meet the water. After returning to the entrance it could be seen that a waterfall once poured over a rock face and into 'the stream about ten yards downstream. This rock face was climbed and a new entrance could be seen above and behind the cave already explored. A small volume OI water leaves this cave and drops down into the cave below, forming the falls already encountered. This cave was of similar dimensions to the cave below but was reasonably dry, the formation was showing signs of deterioration not evident in the other cave., Lack of good lights and safety equipment such as ropes and helmets, did not allow:a detailed exploration,of this cave, but it was explored for'about three hundred yards without'giving any'sign of dying out. As it was late afternoon and at least two hours of walking and swimming were still to be faced it was decided to return to the Club for a f~w cold ales. Unfortunately I left the Solomons before returning to these caves so it will always be a mystery as to how far they extend. Any volunteers Ior a return trip~ to the Matanikon Caves? SOUTHERN CAVER (II) APRIL 1974

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AREA REPORTS (1 JANUARY TO 31 MARCH 1974) .' Kevin Kiernan JUNEE-FLORENTlNE (4 trips) .. ';' /t .: .. An extension has 'bee,n discovered in an unnumbered horizbntal stream cave near JF228. The ,iatter cave was also visited. The party was stopped by a draughty 10m shaft after having explored past two small chambers ~ 'Two new and as yet unexplored holes have been discovered near \velcome Stranger, which was.visited in company with SSS members. In the Junee,'area an extension has been found in Bone 'Pit. Pye;ny. ,Cave, Bone Pit, Junee Cave and Zulu Pot have been surveyed. A sightseeing party bottomed Khazad-Dum. MOLE CREEK (6, ,trips) General sightseeing trips pave gone to Georgies Hall Ca~e (photography), Scotts Cave, Kubla Khan Cave (with SSS), Croesus Cave (with SSS) Honeycomb~ I Cave and Wet Cave. Several interesting new holes have been noted not far from the ~ain lime stone quarry', while a fairly impressive new hole has been discovered on, a ridge top near Sassafras Ck. None of these have been explored to date. Surveying in Herberts Pot has begun in earnest. LOWER GORDON (2 trips) The area was briefly visited in January with members of SSS. The party, travelling aboard the tourist vessel 'Denison Star' as far upstream as the Butlers Island dam site was sufficiently impressed by the limestone cliffs along the river bank to plan a return to the area in March. On the latter occasion a boatload of SSS members discovered an interesting new cave 35m long when they stopped ashore briefly on their return down stream from the Gordon Franklin area. GORDON FRANKLIN (1 trip) In company with SSS this area was visited, resulting in the discovery of some 15 caves, only a couple of which were explored. The party travelled up the Gordon as far as Angel Cliffs, some 8km upstream of the Franklin River junction, and also travelled some 3km up the Franklin River beyond Verandah Cliffs, an impressive limestone cliff overhanging that river. SOUTHERN CAVER ( I2:) APRIL 1974

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The majority of caves discovered lie adjacent to the Frank+in River; the party was most impressed by the lack of surf'ace tribut4ries--:ili:to the Gordon over a distance of several kilometer s. A return visit to this most promising'area is planned for next Januar,y. Two intending memqers 'of next year.'s party have already purchased a jet boat to'aid mobility on these rivers Â•. HASTINGS (2 trips) An introductory trip for n~w members was conducted to Wolfhole, where some photography was undertaken. Newdegate Cave was visited and several SSS members guided through the Binney Tunnel and beyond to the decorated chambers in Hells Half Acre's upper levels. The discovery of a new cave near King George V Cave, hitherto not fully explored occurred in early April and will be reported mqre fully next issue. IDA. BAY (3' trips) Exit Cave was visited on two occasions. On the first occasion, in early January, SSS visitors were guided through the cave as far as Edies Treasure. The .aecond vi'si t in March was for the purpose of demonstrat ing some 'of the"unique aspects of the cave to an officer of the National_. Parks and 1tlildlife Service. A small party also visited Entrance Cavefor general Sightseeing. NICHOLLS RANGE (1 trip) .;:: .. An attempt was made to visit this remote limestone area. which-lies about, 15km downstream of the present BEG,dam on the Gordon E.iver. 'It is threatened with inundation by the proposed Lower Gordon scheme. The, party crossed the Gordon River 0.5km upstream of the present dam and": __ ... climbed the western wall of the gorge onto the Hamilton Range. Time (., was lost diverting southwards along the range to view the main gorge .. ~' ,;' between the Hamilton and Wilmot Ranges, hence the party eventually merely traversed ,the range before descending to the' point of commencement through'very thick scrub for the latter stages. From the summits of the Hamiltons one of the most rewarding views in Tasmania may be obtained with almost ever,y peak in the South-Uest visible. The Gordon Splits and limestone floored valleys beyond lie about one day's walk beyond the furthest point reached. In early April the BEC closed the gate on the Ydddle Gordon dam blocking the only reasonable route onto the Hamilton Range from the east. Future attempts to reach this most promising and extensive limestone area will be made down the now semi-dry bed of the Gordon River. SOUTHERN CAVER ( 1:5) APRIL. 1974

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MARIA IS1fu~ (1 trip) Maria Island was visited in company with SSS members. Some party members toured through Tear-Flesh Chasm while others examined the old convict settlement of Darlington. FERNDENE: (1 -trip) A veL7 small cave in lateritic cliffs in the Ferndene State Reserve was visited and mapped. GUNNS PLAINS (1 trip) The tourist cave, was visited with SSS members and a promising prospect noted nearby which, will be examined further at a later date. EUGENANA (1 trip) A cave entrance to the south of the old BHP quarry was located but lack of time and thick blackberries prevented exploration. It is most unlikely to extend far. JUKES~DARH:i:N (1 trip) A party passing through this area investigated a couple of small holes beside the old railway formation 0.5km south of the Bird River bridge. This most attractive area seems destined to be disfigured by logging on the limestone country for recently constructed loading stages and road maintenance were noted. CLAUDE CREEK Two small' holes of little promise have been found in this small outcrop of Gordon L.:j.mestone not far from Go~ie Park. SOUTHERN CAVER ( 14,) APRIL 1974

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Hichael (Titch) Cole almost didn't ~et married on Saturda{" 10th March. Delio., the b Lushfng bride, (in more ways thun one) arrived at the appointed time to be told to "do the block" as tho groom had not arrived. SOC IAL NOTE S Five minutes later Titch and the best man Steve Harris arrived in Chris Harris landrover and hurried inside. Unfortunately many of the wellwisheru& were hard of hearing. The rest of the ceremony went according to the book and at the end the congregation was reminded that the groom would lose his ~5~00 if confetti was thrown too near the church. From all reports the reception was enjoyed by all. Rob Horner, on vacation from Port Horesby, rolled into the clu brooms on Wednesday 20th Barch in time for John McCormacks send off. True to form, Rob livened up the occasion and we look for ward to seeing him on his next visit. Steve Vince made an appearance on the same night and assured all that he would be doing a lot of .'.l.ving this year. Welcome back, steve Â•Â•Â•Â• John HcCorllk'l.ck was piloting a VOLVO when he arrived for his send off recently. Perhaps this magnificant machine will be observed at Uole Creek on occasions. SOUTHERU CAVER (15) April~ 1974